Aftermarket

Volvo Expects To Increase U.S. Market Share

December 17, 1999
• by Staff

Volvo is planning to increase its market share and its profit margins in North America next year.

Karl-Erling Trogen, chief executive of Volvo Trucks, told Reuters in an interview Friday it would accomplish this goal despite a weaker market for heavy trucks."The market will correct downwards early next year, but the underlying truck market will continue to be strong. We will increase our market share next year,'' he said.Volvo aims to ship 35,000 trucks this year, mainly its VN model, to customers in North America.Volvo currently has an 11%-12% share of the total market of nearly 300,000 heavy trucks sold in the United States, but aims to increase this to 20% in the future. Between January and the end of November this year Volvo truck deliveries in North America rose 18%.Volvo is also confident on the market in Western Europe, Volvo's largest market. Trogen told Reuters this market would continue to be strong.As Volvo merges with its former Swedish truck making rival Scania, there have been some concerns that the combined companies, which currently hold 30 percent of the heavy truck market in Western Europe -- will lose market share, since the customers don't see them as competitors any more.Trogen said the companies will stay independent and free to choose the best strategy for their own trademark. The deal will make the merged group the world's second-biggestheavy truck and bus maker with 19% of the global market, just behind DaimlerChrysler's 25percent. It will also give the group more than 90 percent of the Swedish market.

Meritor has updated MeritorPartsXpress.com to improve search functionality for the company’s offering of 100,000 aftermarket products. The website also offers new self-service tools to help customers in North America.

In a perfect world, trucks would never break down. In the real world even the best-made trucks need to come in for service. When that happens, fleet managers want service to be completed quickly and efficiently.

Navistar has launched the Navistar Service Essentials program, a partnership aimed at helping qualified vocational-technical schools “prepare the next generation of truck and bus technicians,” according to the OEM.

Times are good everywhere in trucking and Chris Baer, president and CEO of Vipar Heavy Duty, confirmed that applies to the aftermarket segment as well in his remarks at the company’s annual conference.